Machiavelli and epicureanism : an investigation into the origins of early modern political thought / Robert J. Roecklein.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Roecklein, Robert J., 1960-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Machiavelli, Niccolò, 1469-1527.

Machiavelli, Niccolò.

Political science--Philosophy.

Political science.

Physical Description:

xi, 213 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham : Lexington Books, [2012]

Summary:

Machiavelli and Epicureanism: An Investigation into the Origins of Early Modern Political Thought investigates the influence of Epicurean physics on the argument developed in Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy. Robert J. Roecklein investigates the full philosophical history and origins of atomist philosophy, including Plato's critique of the atomist philosophy from his dialogue the Parmenides. In fact, Plato provides a refutation of the atomist philosophy in the Parmenides, and Roecklein demonstrates the currents of Lucretian atomism in Machiavelli's Florence. He supplies evidence for Machiavelli's exposure to the Lucretian text, then investigates the transformational arguments of the Discourses on Livy itself.

Machiavelli's Discourses are saturated with terminology borrowed from physics: "materia" (Matter), "corpo" (body), "forma" (form), "accidente" (accident). English translators have usually employed some theory as to which tradition of physics Machiavelli relies upon, in order to conduct their translations. By borrowing the terminology of Lucretian physics, Machiavelli becomes able to conceive of the people in a political society as something less than human: as "matter," or materia without form. In Roecklein's analysis of Machiavelli's deployment of the concepts from Lucretian physics, he unveils the brutality inherent in Machiavelli's new definitions of the elements of politics, and the general hostility of his political science to the Aristotelian concept of the human being as a political animal. In Machiavelli's model, human beings, characterized as mere "matter," are repeatedly subjected to the artificial forms of Machiavelli's political science-to a condition of isolation, destitution, injury, and pain. This book concludes with an examination of the particular institutions and methods that Machiavelli holds out to us for employment, if his new vision of a republic is to be realized. The insights of this book will be especially valuable to students and scholars of political philosophy, classics, and Renaissance studies. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Plato's Refutations of Eleatic Atomism in the Parmenides 19

2 Epicurus, Political Philosopher 57

3 Lucretius' Aggressive Rhetoric 91

4 Machiavelli's Discourses: The Birth of Neo-Epicureanism 115

5 The Life of the Spirit in Machiavelli's Republic 167.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-207) and index.

ISBN:

9780739177105

0739177109

9780739177112

0739177117

OCLC:

812614168